Oh, It Matters
by Heroic Spectre
Summary: The three heroes carved a violent trail of devastation throughout the Dark World, and Lancer is left to face the consequences.


" **But, Kris. I believe YOUR choices are important, too."**

 **\- Ralsei**

* * *

Lancer watched quietly as the fountain of darkness dissolved into oblivion, along with the two lighteners. He felt a pit in his stomach. That was it, wasn't it? Susie and the blue person whose name he had never learned were gone. There had hardly been time for a proper goodbye, or a 'badbye' as he had called it. Would he ever see them again? He didn't know, but he hoped so.

Susie was kind of scary, but she was so strong, purple, and cool. Lancer loved being a bad guy with her. As for the blue person, well, Lancer hadn't really gotten a chance to know them very well. They seemed pretty quiet, but they were just as strong as Susie. If they ever came back, Lancer would have to make befriending them his top priority.

A lightbulb flashed over Lancer's head. _Hey, where's that prince? I bet he knows when they'll be back! I'll go…_

"Son."

Lancer gulped and slowly turned around. Behind him was Father, accompanied by a platoon of Rudinns. Both of Father's mouths clenched their teeth, and his eyes widened as he stared where the fountain had once been. "No…"

Lancer quivered anxiously. "Uh, sorry, Dad. The heroes kind of… destroyed the fountain. Guess we won't be able to cover the whole world in eternal darkness after all. Haha, bummer, huh?"

Father stared daggers into him. "You… you let them escape. You allowed them to destroy our holy fountain."

"W-well, the Knight can always make a new one!" Lancer said. "Yeah! We'll whip up a brand-new fountain of darkness, and it'll be like none of this ever happened! The lighteners will have to come back and destroy it all over again! Isn't that great? It's like their choices don't matter!"

He gave Father his best evil laugh, but he wasn't swayed. Father took another step towards him. "Oh, it matters."

Lancer took a step back. "F-Father, what are you doing?"

Father pointed his finger at him. "Seize him."

Obeying his command, a couple of Rudinns grasped both of Lancer's arms and dragged him to their king. Lancer gaped at him. "Father!"

He felt Father's fist slam into the side of his jaw, making him throb with pain. "You are no son of mine," the King growled.

Lancer's heart skipped a beat. Father… he couldn't mean that! He couldn't! He was his dad! They had done so much together. All those lessons he had given him to thrash lighteners, all those times he had made him take a shower for reading a swear word, the rare occasions when he'd cook for him, was it all a lie? Was it all meaningless?

Lancer whimpered. "Dad, I… I'm sorry! I won't let them win again! I'll be a good bad guy! I promise!"

Father looked down at him with a cold look in his eyes. "No, the lighteners have corrupted you beyond salvation. You are a traitor, and there is only one thing we can do with traitors."

Lancer smiled nervously. "G… give them a big hug?"

Father turned to face his soldiers. "Throw him in the dungeon," he ordered. "Let everyone know that his execution is tomorrow."

Lancer felt a chill run down his spine. Execution?! Father… was going to kill him?

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Rudinns chanted.

"N-no!" Lancer screamed. " _Father, please!_ You can't do this! I'm your -"

Father struck him again, smacking the back of his fist into his nose. "You are _nothing,_ " he hissed. "From this day forward, you are worth less than the moss that grows in your cell. I had thought that you would remain loyal to me, but you are no better than the lightener scum who abandoned us. Tomorrow, you will die, and everyone will learn what happens to those who would side with the lighteners."

Lancer felt like he was suffocating as dust spurt out of his broken nose, but he couldn't give up. He had to bring Father back to his senses. He looked through him. "I… I know you're upset, but -"

"ENOUGH!" the King roared. "Get this traitor out of my sight! NOW!"

The Rudinn Rangers immediately dragged Lancer away.

"Father…"

* * *

Lancer sat on the cold stone floor in his cell. He still couldn't believe that this was happening. Just a few hours ago, everything had been normal. He was riding on his bike, waiting for some sign of the lighteners, same as always. How could he have known that this would be the day when it happened? How could he have known that it would signal the end of his life?

He looked at the Rudinn who stood guard in front of his cell. How could they be okay with this? Weren't they horrified by what his father had commanded? Why weren't they stopping him? How could they follow such a cruel order without question? Lancer walked up to the bars of his cell. "H-hey."

"Silence, traitor!" the guard snarled.

"I… I'm not a traitor," Lancer said. "I know the King told me to defeat the lighteners, but we don't have to fight them at all! Isn't that better?"

The Rudinn scoffed. "We don't have to fight them? Do you really believe that? Didn't you see what the Purple Beast and the Blue Demon did to us? It is a miracle that they didn't kill anyone, but it wasn't for lack of trying. They hurt so many people, and they even forced that prince from the abandoned kingdom to fight with them. They are pure evil."

Lancer shook his head. "N-no, they were just… defending themselves."

Even as Lancer said that, he doubted his own words. He knew it was true when it came to Susie, but as for the human… not so much. At no point did the human ever try to resolve things peacefully. Even after Susie said she was willing to take a more diplomatic approach, they still resorted to violence every single time. Even when they fought… him and Susie.

" _Hey, HEY! Enough's enough already! If you hit him anymore, you might end up really hurting him! Lancer, you ok…?"_

" _I… I'm fine, Susie. My insides are just… a little mixed up."_

"Tell that to all the clobbered Jigsawrys," the Rudinn said. "It'll take weeks for some of them to recover, and they didn't even want to fight. The lighteners probably could have befriended them as easily as lifting their fingers, but they chose not to. Fighting was more fun for them."

The Rudinn… had a point. Why hadn't the human tried to be nicer? They were worse than Susie ever was. Lancer clenched his fists. That human… this was all their fault! If they hadn't loved swinging their sword around so much, none of this would have happened! Everyone wouldn't have caught the freak-outs when he told them they were fighting the King. If the human had only been friendlier, the people would have rallied to help them! They could have given Father a time-out, and then Lancer could have ruled the Kingdom! It would have been awesome. It… it would have…

But, that was just a fantasy. Lancer couldn't spend what little time he had left contemplating what might have been. He had to face the reality he had found himself in, the reality where his own father was going to have him killed in front of his entire kingdom.

Well, at least it would be over soon.

Lancer slumped back into the stone floor of his cell. He closed his eyes. Soon, it'd be time to…

"Attentionest, guardeth! Thou art beeneth relievest of thine post!"

The Rudinn faced the newcomer. "Oh, finally. This brat won't shut up. I can't want to see his head roll."

"Neither canneth I! Now, begone!"

"Sure, whatever."

The Ruddin walked away, and Rouxls Kaard stood in front of Lancer's cell. Rouxls grinned. "My, what a predicethment thou hast fallen in!"

Lancer beamed. "Lesser Dad! You gotta help me! Tell the King to stop doing this!"

"Wherefore shouldest I?" Rouxls asked. "Thou art the Most Vexing little water-beetle I ever hadeth the displeasurest of meeting. I have always placated you for your Father's sake!"

Lancer's smiled turned upside down. "I… I know that. Everyone is only nice to be because my dad says so. It wasn't until I met… Susie that I really understood what friendship feels like."

Rouxls stared at him silently for a while. Eventually, he pulled something out and stuck it inside the cell door's keyhole. He turned it, and the door opened. Lancer gasped. "Wh-what are you…?"

"What doth it looketh like?" Rouxls asked. "I art liberatething thou from thine confinement."

Lancer's heart pounded in chest. "S-seriously? You'd do that for me?"

"Of courseth!" Rouxls exclaimed. "Dost thou thinketh I possess no soul? Our Lorde King art a cruel and terrifying Monarcke… no offense. It is absolutely barbarick to order the death of one's own son. Truly, that man cannot tell the difference between a hawk and a handsaw. Therefore, I shall help thou escapeth from this dungeon."

Really? Lancer was so happy that he could've cried. "Th-thank you!"

"Saveth thine gratitude," Rouxls said. "We must get you out of this castle, with haste!"

"Right!"

"Stay with me," Rouxls ordered. "I will keep thou safe."

Lancer followed Rouxls out of his cell. They made their way down the hall and went inside the elevator. Rouxls pressed the button for the ground floor, and they began ascending.

"So, what's the plan?" Lancer asked.

"Plan?" Rouxls said. "Why, it is simple! We merely need to procedeth out of the castle undetected! Brilliant, no?"

"I… think so?" Lancer said. "I mean, my plans usually aren't very elaborate, either."

"It will be easeth!" Rouxls assured him. "Stealth ventures art my specialty."

 _Ding!_

The elevator reached the ground floor. As the doors opened, a Rudin Ranger stood right before them. "Finally, it was taking forev…" Their eyes widened.

Lancer froze.

"Oh, greetingseth!" Rouxls said. "I was just… taking the prisoner to the King. He wisheseth to see him one finalest time before his demise."

The Rudinn raised their diamond cutter. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"N-no, it's true!" Rouxls said. "The King hast bidden me personally to retrieve his young fry of treachery, so that he... so he m-may... drink the milk of darkener vengeance, a-and... oh, God!" He dropped to his knees and covered his face. " _Please don't kill me!_ "

"GUARDS! A PRISONER IS LOOSE!"

A swarm of Rudinns and Hathys converged on their location. They dragged Lancer and Rouxls out of the elevator and pointed their weapons at them.

Some escape attempt that was.

"P-please," Lancer whimpered. "Don't you guys realize how wrong this is? We're better than this."

"Shut up, light lover!" a Rudinn yelled. "You are going to pay for letting the lighteners destroy our holy fountain. I am going to enjoy watching you die."

Why? Why had this happened? Why did everyone hate the lighteners so much? It wasn't supposed to be this way. They should have been friends. Everyone should have been happy.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Father walked into the hallway, and he glared menacingly at Rouxls. "You dare attempt to save this traitor?"

Rouxls trembled before him. "I…. haha! Your majesty! This is all a misunderstanding! I was just… I was…"

The King raised his voice. "Rouxls Kaard. Remind me, why do I require a Duke of Puzzles?"

"B-because…"

"I _don't_ ," he hissed. "What good is a lock if anyone with even a semblance of intellect can open it? Puzzles are an antiquated tradition of the old kings, a tradition which I have no need for. Your only useful function was to watch over Lancer, but that will no longer be necessary."

Still trembling, Rouxls shook his head. "N-no! I-I can still be useful! I'll… I'll polish your shoes! I'll clean your bathroom! I'll do anything! _Anything!_ Just don't kill me!"

The King hummed. "Anything, you say?" He shifted his gaze towards Lancer. "Then, you will be his executioner."

 _Wh-what?_

Rouxls's jaw dropped. "Y-your majesty?"

"You heard me," the King said. "Either you kill him, or you join him."

Rouxls hesitated, staring at the King blankly. Lancer looked up at him. He... knew what had to be done. "It… it's okay," Lancer said. "Do what he says. I want you to live."

Rouxls shook his head. "I… I can't…"

The King approached him. "Oh, I see." He reached out his arm and grabbed Rouxls by the throat. "Then, I guess I have no further use for you."

"NO! PLEASE!"

The King summoned an energy spade and brought it down into Rouxls's head. Lancer heard his skull crack as the destructive magic went through. Rouxls gagged as he coughed up dust. "L-Lancer, I…"

Rouxls disintegrated into a cloud of tiny particles.

Lancer blinked.

What was that?

What just happened?

Lancer felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Rouxls was… Rouxls was dead. His father had killed him. No, no! Lancer ran to the dust pile that had once served as the material for Rouxls's body, tears dripping down his eyes. "Dad…"

Damn it… _damn it!_ This was his fault! How could he be so _stupid?_ He shouldn't have let him help. He should have told him to save himself! He… he…

Lancer screamed.

The King looked down at him, his expression cold and uncaring. "No more escape attempts, or he won't be the last."

Lancer nodded. It was over. It was all over. He just wanted it all to end. He didn't want anyone else to die because of him.

The King pointed towards the dungeon. "Take him back to his cell, and make sure he stays this time."

"Yes, my king. It won't happen again."

The soldiers dragged Lancer back to his cell.

* * *

The next day, Lancer stood outside on the gallows. In front of him was a massive courtyard filled with hundreds of the kingdom's subjects. They watched quietly as the King fastened Lancer's neck into a wooden frame, positioned below a large, sharp blade. As Lancer looked down onto a basket below him, the King walked towards the crowd.

"My loyal subjects!" the King boomed. "We have gathered here today to witness the punishment of the one who betrayed our glorious kingdom. Lancer, my own son, has committed the highest form of treason possible, allowing the filthy lighteners to destroy our holy fountain. Commoner, prince, the status matters not. No one may be forgiven for the crime that my son has committed. Only in death may he find redemption for his sins."

As his neck rested beneath the guillotine, his greatest wish was that he could see his friends just one more time. Ralsei, Susie, even the human. What was their name? Lancer wished he had at least learned their name.

"I take no pleasure in this," the King said. "It pains me that I am forced to execute my own son, but those who defy the Knight's will must be punished without mercy. We will have our revenge against the lighteners who abandoned us, and no one will stand in our way!"

 _Shut up. You killed Rouxls._

The crowd cheered, and Lancer looked up at the sky. Just a dark void, as usual. Wasn't there anyone who wanted to save him? Was there no way out of this?

The King walked towards the lever. "Now, let us dispose of this traitor!"

 _No..._

 _I'm not ready._

 _I don't want to die._

 _Save me._

 _Someone..._

 _Anyone..._

 _Please._

Suddenly, Lancer saw a bright flash in the sky. A pillar of light crashed down into the distance. It was the same light he had seen when the lighteners showed up. Lancer grinned. It was them! Susie and the human were back! They…

 _CLANG!_

Lancer's head fell off of his body and into the basket beneath him. As he dissolved into dust, his last thoughts were of Ralsei, Susie, and the human who…

* * *

" **In the end, how we treat them makes all the difference."**

 **\- Ralsei**


End file.
